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KEY FINDINGS

This publication presents statistics about victims of selected offences that were recorded by police between January 1 and December 31, 2016. This is the seventh annual release of the current time series which covers the 2010 to 2016 reference periods.

NUMBER OF VICTIMS OF ALL OFFENCE TYPES RISE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS

Between 2015 and 2016, the number of victims recorded nationally increased across each of the selected offence categories, for the first time since the current time series began in 2010. (Table 1)

During 2016, the number of Sexual assault victims increased for the fifth consecutive year, up from 21,948 victims in 2015 to 23,052 victims, to reach their highest levels in seven years. The largest increases occurred in Tasmania (up 15% or 27 victims) and Victoria (up 14% or 662 victims). In contrast, the number of Sexual assault victims decreased in the Northern Territory (down 6% or 23 victims) and South Australia (down 4% or 69 victims) over the same period. (Tables 1 & 6)

Across all of the selected states and territories for which relationship of offender to victim data was available, most Sexual assault victims knew their offender and more frequently reported experiencing victimisation by a non-family member (which may include an ex-partner, friend, acquaintance, neighbour, employee, employer, co-worker, guardian, carer, teacher etc.). (Table 11)

In 2016, the number of victims of FDV-related Sexual assault rose by 6%, up 491 victims from 2015 to reach 8,210 victims. The majority of these victims (85%) were female (6,942 victims). (Table 22)

ROBBERIES RISE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX YEARS

The total number of Robbery victims rose (5%) for the first time since 2010, up from 8,968 victims in 2015 to 9,403 victims. The increase was largely driven by an increase in victims of Armed robbery, up 7% or 328 victims nationally. (Table 1)

Source(s): Recorded Crime - Victims

Armed robberies increased across four jurisdictions in 2016, including Victoria (up 22 % or 351 victims) and Queensland (up 17% or 123 victims), which experienced the largest rises in victims of these offences between 2015 and 2016. (Table 6)

MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS CONTINUE TO RISE

In 2016, the number of Motor vehicle thefts rose for the second consecutive year to reach their highest levels since 2012, up 9% from 51,525 victims in 2015 to 56,086 victims. The increase was driven by a rise in the number of Motor vehicle thefts recorded in Victoria (25% or 3,855 victims), Queensland (19% or 1,596) and South Australia (10% or 332 victims) since 2015. All remaining jurisdictions experienced decreases in the number of victims of these offences recorded by police since 2015. (Tables 1 & 6)

Across all states and territories, motor vehicles were most likely to have been stolen from an outbuilding or residential land (which includes a garage, driveway or carport). (Table 8)